Radiological well logging



May 30, 1950 K. c. cRUMRlNE 2,509,908

RADIOLGICAL WELL LOGGING Filed March 28, 1945 IN V EN TOR.

Patented May 30, 1950 am lJoe-r1er.

lKenneth-GL Grumri'nc, Bellaire, Tex.; jassiginor to The 'Texas Qompany, New YorkNf-Y., a corporation of- Delaware 5 Glaims.

numana-relates radoiog'ical weil '10er .any to tnatrofmfiniwhich ation sucnfas new "re nassen through ff tiid vloonrlfill"ding gf scattered therein tofreturn proximity ofthefdetector detector Vresponse are he formations travtained by recording the intensity 'of the scattered neutrons returned? to fthe noie are usually readily 1;, tainfloesf whicnfarereproducible 'it has teen 'found 'the fluidi in the'holeffisf'dfetrirnental' to 1 f neutron-'neutronlog intwoV respente, firstly? Ycausesfan :increase tirefcou-nt ratewhichfisnotdueto characteristics of the formations and thereby `the average statistical fiuctuation is; increased'andfsecondlyf it masks the E'formationsL by slowingwdown 'and absorbing some" bf ltheyfastf'neutronsion `theirpassage from the source lgto ther-interiori surface `of the casing or to the surface of the formationsV sothatthe average penetratienoi thei'neutrons'into the -formationsisfdec'reesed. Furthermore, the neutrons winch-are scattered yloafclr towardy the v:detector in the'bore-hole are usually muchl slower than when emitted from'thesourceand-'there is of course aerea-terpossibility of vtheir bei-ngcapttued or absorbed bythe `fluid inthe annular space laetween thelogginginstrument and the casing `or the'wall of vthe-hole so thatthey will-not reach the detector.

lInaccordance with -thisinvention the annular Y lspace "between the logging `'instrumentand the hole walls or rather: the nmajor portion oithat space is l d1 with/ha bodypf a material. which displaces Vthe' "well iiu'idv and which is relatively vtransparent to neutrons. 'hus it hasfbfeen. found if;

-that la Vcylintii'ical aluminum sleeve "tted over the loggingy 'instrument and of. a' thickness such `as to occupy'niost ofthe space around' the Vinstrumentor Yat leastK around the -part 4of the in strument containing the-'detector and source J eliminates this-detrimental effect ofthe presence oi the wellE fiu'idf, andfp'ermits 'the n1'aking`of-good reproducible logging curves regardless of whether or noty wellfluid is present in thatportion of the hole-*being iogged'. In one particular' well the internal diameter yof thev casing was 6% inch-es-t while thef'external' diameter oitheiogging instrument was liinches. .Pin aluminum sleeve li-inch in thickness was placed `around* the' in-4 strument and-'after severa-'l logs were made .it-Was found that the V sleeve in' displacing substantially all of the liquid around the `instr-ument permitted duplication `of logs' nothinthe :portion of vthe weiicontaining no fluid` 'and in .that portion con taining titeuid.

Several- "material-s could be yemployed for a sleeve-'of'thisV type` as indicated by theollowing ngures for'rthefmean free patti for slow neutrons:

A Centime'ters Sulphur 19.1 Aluminum 111.1 4Tin 8.6

If sulphur is used thisca-nbe contained a thin aluminum-*or steel jacket of such a-size'ras to t snugly around the logging instrument and ofa thicknessv such as to extend almost to the inner surfaoeof thefcasing or hole walls.-

It is also contemplated that instead 4of using one lsleeve of! al predetermined thickness, Ithe liquidv displacing member can be formed of two or more rthin-ner concentric, nested `sleeves of a `materia-lf transparent vto neutrons,` the sleeves being normalflysuspended inlnested relation around tlflefleggingA instru-ment; =If while the-instrument isbeing lowered lfthrougl'ithe hole a narrowv section otvtI-ierhole is* encountered, theoutermostf-of thesleeves wil-l lodge'in the hole andslip off of theinstrument which will continue downwardly with' Ethe'remaining sleevevor .sleeves `still around it. iOnfti-ie--returnupwardly through the hole 4the sleeve or sleeves previously detached willv -be picked up again andtheir effectv will -be added to those Aalready around the instrument on the remainder of the upward travel.

For` a more-complete description of--the 'ini/enu tion reference -rnay be had to 'the accompanying drawingin which Fig. l is a vertical veleva/tion through a bore hole showing partly in-section a wellfllogging in strumentfv provided with a single J,liquid displacingl outer sleeve;

Fig; K2' is a vertical elevation :partly :in section through:I a'si-milar instrument providedfwith vtwo outer sleeves,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device of Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through a portion of one sleeve showing the manner in which the sleeves may be detachably mounted around the instrument.

Referring to the drawing a bore hole is shown as traversing several underground formations such as those indicated at I2 and I4. The hole I may be provided with a casing, not shown, since neutrons pass freely through the casing walls and thus a cased hole may be logged in the same manner as an uncased hole. Within the hole I 0 is a sealed instrument housing I6 suspended from the surface by means of a suitable cable I8 passing around a measuring device 20 at the surface. Disposed within the housing I 6 is a source 22 of neutrons which may comprise a mixture of radium and beryllium and from which neutrons pass outwardly into the formations I2 and I4 wherein some are scattered and returned to the hole it. Also 'within the housing I6 is a radiation detector 24 capable of measuring the number of those scattered neutronsl which strike it. The detector 24 may comprise an instrument of the Geiger-Mueller counter type or it may be a suitable proportional counter or an ionization chamber and the detector is preferably connected to a suitable pre-amplifier 26 also disposed within the housing I6 and connected inturn, through the cable I8 to an amplifier 2S at the surface, the output of which leads to a recording device 30. It is understood that by means of the device Sii a record may be made of the response of the detector 24 and correlated with the depth of the instrument in the hole as measured by the device 33. Power for energizing the detector 2d and the preamplifier 2 16 may be supplied either by suitable batteries disposed within the housing IG or by conducting the power downwardly over the cable I8, as is well known.

The logging instruments indicated generally by the housing i6 are of course rather complicated and expensive pieces of apparatus and it would obviously not be practicable to build a separate instrument to t snugly within each size of bore hole or casing. Thus in accordance with the invention, a sleeve 32 which, as before stated, may be of aluminum or some other material transparent to neutrons, is disposed around the housing IB or at least around that part of the casing opposite the detector I6, and source 22 and is of a thickness such that it will occupy most of the annular space between the outside of the housing I6 and the casing or the walls of the hole i9. In this manner the well fluid 34 which would normally be present around the logging instrument is displaced in that portion of the hole at which the logging instrument is present and the detrimental eiect of the liquid is substantially eliminated as has been explained hereinbefore.

rIhere are instances of course where the walls of the bore are not straight and if the surrounding sleeve were made suiciently thin for the instrument with the sleeve around it to pass through the narrowest portion there would still be considerable space around the instrument occupied by well uid in other portions of the bore hole. In Figs. 2, 3, and 4 a modification of the invention is shown in which the housing I is surrounded by two sleeves 36 and 38, each being, say, half as thick as the sleeve 32 shown in Fig. 1. The sleeve 36 fits within the sleeve 3s and also reasonably snugly around the instrument housing I6. The sleeves are, however, not rigidly attached to the housing as is the case with reference to the form shown in Fig. 1 but are detachably mounted so that if at some point in the hole the diameter is less than the external diameter of the outside sleeve 38, but greater than the external diameter of the inside sleeve 36, the outersleeve 3S will become lodged in that portion of the hole while the instrument I6 surrounded by the sleeve 3S will continue downwardly. If another still narrower portion of the hole is encountered the inner sleeve 36 may lodge in that portion of the hole while the instrument IG will again continue downwardly. On the upward travel through the hole the sleeves 35 and 38 Will be picked up again so that in the upper wider portion of the hole they will again have the effect of displacing the liquid around the instrument. The inner sleeve 35 is provided at its upper end with a pair of semi-circular supporting members 4B, these members being attached to the upper edge of the sleeve as by means of screws 42 as shown in Fig. 4. The outer sleeve 38 is also provided at its upper end with a pair of similar semicircular supporting members 44. The cable I8 or rather the electrical conductors in the cable are, of course, connected to the proper instruments within the housing I6 before the latter is sealed and it would therefore be dicult to place a solid ring over the upper end of the instrument I. With the present arrangement however, it is necessary merely to slip the inner sleeve 36 upwardly around the instrument I6 and to fasten the two semi-circular members 40 in place by means of the screws 42. The outer sleeve 38 is then pushed upwardly around the inner sleeve and the two supporting members 44 attached in a similar manner. Obviously more than two of the liquid displacing sleeves can be used in this manner if desired.

While it would naturally be impractical to have the sleeves 32, 36 or 38 thick enough to fit snugly either the walls of the hole I0 or the interior surf ace of the casing, any amount by which the liquid around the instrument can be replaced by a material transparent to neutrons will increase the accuracy of the log which will be obtained. As stated in a preceding paragraph a neutronneutron logging instrument was surrounded with an aluminum sleeve only a quarter of an inch less in external diameter than the internal diameter of a well casing and the well was logged successfully without the instrument becoming stuck in the hole.

Instead of suspending the sleeves 36 and 38 from their upper ends as shown in Figures 2 4, other suitable means for releasably attaching the sleeves to the housing I 6 may be used. Obviously many other modifications and variations of the invention, as hereinbefore set forth, maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, but only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A device for logging a bore hole comprising a housing adapted to be lowered and raised through said hole, a source of neutrons and a detector of neutrons in said housing, said detector being responsive to neutrons from said source scattered in said formations and returned to said hole, a sleeve immediately surrounding and continuously movable with said housing and adapted to occupy most of the annular space between said housing and the wall of the hole, said sleeve being formed of a material such as aluminum substantially transparent to said neutrons, and means for recording the output of said detector.

2. A device for determining and locating the formations traversed by a well bore hole comprising an elongated housing, means for lowering and raising said housing through said bore hole, a source of neutrons and a neutron detector in said housing, said detector being adapted to measure neutrons scattered in said formations and returned to said hole, said hole being normally at least partially lled with iluid which tends to ab sorb and slow down said neutrons, and means comprising Aa sleeve aiXed to and surrounding the major portion of said housing and substantially transparent to said neutrons, said sleeve ihaving a wall thickness but slightly less than the `width of the annular space between the side of the housing and the vwall of said hole so as to displace most of said fluid which would otherwise affect adversely the quality of the results, said sleeve being continuously movable with said housing during the measuring operation.

3. A device for determining and locating the formations traversed by a bore hole comprising yan elongated housing, means for lowering and raising said housing through said bore hole, a source of neutrons and a detector in said housing, said detector being responsive to neutrons scattered in said formations and returned to said hole, said hole being normally at least partially lled with fluid which absorbs and slows down said neutrons, means comprising a sleeve originally attached to and snugly surrounding the major portion of said housing and substantially transparent to said neutrons and having a wall thickness substantially as great as the distance between the side of the housing and the Walls yof said hole so as to displace most of said uid which would otherwise interfere with the proper response of said detector, means for recording the response of said detector and means for correlating the detector response with the depth of the housing in the hole.

4. A device for determining and locating the formations traversed by a well bore hole compris- 4 ing an elongated housing, means for lowering and raising said housing through said bore hole, la

source of neutrons and a neutron detector in said housing, said detector being responsive to neutrons scattered in said formations and returned to said hole, said hole being normally at least partially filled with uid which labsorbs and slows down said neutrons, and means surrounding the major portion of said housing and substantially transparent to said neutrons so as to displace most of said fluid which would otherwise interfere with the proper response of said detector, said means comprising a plurality of concentric sleeves of gradually increasing diameters normally nested around and detachably engaged with said housing.

5. A device for logging a bore hole comprising a housing adapted to be lowered and raised through said hole, a source of neutrons and a detector of neutrons in said housing, said detector being responsive to neutrons from said source scattered in said formations and returned to said hole, `and means substantially transparent to neutrons surrounding said housing for displacing rwell uid which would otherwise ll the annular space between said housing and the walls of the hole, said means comprising a plurality of concentric sleeves of gradually increasing diameters and means for detachably supporting said sleeves around said hou-sing so that if a iconstricted portion of the hole is encountered on downward travel of said device one or more of the outermost sleeves will be disengaged and will remain lodged in the hole to be picked up again on the returning upward movement of the device through the hole.

KENNETH C. CRUMRINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,197,453 Hassler Apr. 16, 1940 2,220,509 Brons Nov. 5, 1940 2,308,361 Fearon Jan. 12, 1943 2,335,409 Hare Nov. 30, 1943 

1. A DEVICE FOR LOGGING A BORE HOLE COMPRISING A HOUSING ADAPTED TO BE LOWERED AND RAISED THROUGH SAID HOLE, A SOURCE OF NEUTRONS AND A DETECTOR OF NEUTRONS IN SAID HOUSING, SAID DETECTOR BEING RESPONSIVE TO NEUTRONS FROM SAID SOURCE SCATTERED IN SAID FORMATIONS AND RETURNED TO SAID HOLE, A SLEEVE IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING AND CONTINUOUSLY MOVABLE WITH SAID HOUSING AND ADAPTED TO OCCUPY MOST OF THE ANNULAR SPACE BETWEEN SAID HOUSING AND THE WALL OF THE HOLE, SAID SLEEVE BEING FORMED OF A MATERIAL SUCH AS ALUMINUM SUBSTAN- 